Saint Francis Xavier and the Man with Two Mistresses

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This incident occurred when this saint was in Malacca, in 1546. I found this story during my investigations because I will be there in 10 days. Malacca is in Asia north of Singapore.
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"Francis, according to his usual method, sought the friendship of a man he hoped to turn from sin, a nominally Christian-Chinese trader who kept two slaves as concubines. [that is, mistresses] Invited to dinner, Francis purposely detained his host in animated conversation until a late hour, when he asked whether he might be put up for the night. Upon being shown to his room, he asked to be allowed to see one of the women, who, when she went to him, found him scourging himself with a chain. Holding out another to her, he told her to scourge herself, unless she wished to have him continue to do penance for her sins. At this point the trader himself ran in and flung himself in tears before Francis. The result was that one of the women was married by the man, and the other, after suitable provision was made for her, dismissed."
(from "The Odyssey of Francis Xavier, " by Theodore Maynard [London: Longmans, Green and Co.], pp. 177-8)
 
i don’t understand this.the trader was the sinner ,not the slaves.
 
april32010 said:
i don’t understand this.the trader was the sinner ,not the slaves.
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Maria Goretti became a saint because she refused to agree to the sin proposed by Alexander, her killer. Yes, someone might be a slave, but they still have minds and souls; they can consent or refuse consent. *To the degree to which they consent, *they too sin.
 
MDG Spencer, I love the stories and articles you post–thanks so much for sharing them with us!
 
When I first read this account about the man with two “concubines” I thought myself that these concubines were slaves, by definition of the word. However, after considering this I thought I would look up the word. I found, though, that the dictionary doesn’t say that a concubine is a slave, and so I realized that I was mistaken when I thought they were slaves.
 
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